Case vs. ex-IMF chief likely to be dropped

Aug. 23, 2011 12:00 AMAssociated Press

NEW YORK - For all that had been revealed as prosecutors moved Monday to drop their sexual-assault case against former International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn, they said they couldn't answer the central question: what happened between him and a maid in his luxurious hotel suite.

In a 25-page court document, Manhattan prosecutors described the lies and inconsistencies they said had shattered the housekeeper's credibility, delved into DNA evidence they said showed sexual contact but not necessarily a forced encounter, discussed why they saw medical findings as inconclusive and detailed their findings in sometimes down-to-the-minute detail.

But in a footnote, they noted that the rundown didn't "purport to make factual findings" about whether there indeed was an attack, as the maid has claimed.

"Rather," they said, "we simply no longer have confidence beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty."

With that, the district attorney's office asked a judge to put an end to a case that created a cross-continental sensation.

A formal dismissal is expected at Strauss-Kahn's court date today, though the maid, Nafissatou Diallo, is asking the judge to boot the DA's office off the case and put it on hold until a special prosecutor can be appointed.

Still, if the criminal case is dismissed, efforts to shed light on what transpired in Strauss-Kahn's suite at the Sofitel hotel are bound to continue in another court: the Bronx civil court handling Diallo's lawsuit against him.

Echoing and expanding on concerns prosecutors had raised previously, they said in court papers that Diallo repeatedly lied to investigators and grand jurors about her life, her past and her actions following her encounter with Strauss-Kahn.

She gave three versions of what she did right after when she says she was attacked and established a troubling ability to present "fiction as fact with complete conviction" by telling a phony tale of a previous rape, prosecutors wrote. She also was evasive about nearly $60,000 that other people had moved through her bank account and insisted she had no interest in getting money from Strauss-Kahn - once telling prosecutors no one could "buy" her - only to sue him within three months, they said.

Prosecutors met briefly Monday with Diallo and her attorney, Kenneth Thompson, who emerged blasting them for their decision.

District Attorney Cyrus Vance "has not only turned his back on this innocent victim, but he has also turned his back on the forensic, medical and other physical evidence in this case," Thompson said.

Strauss-Kahn lawyers William Taylor and Benjamin Brafman, meanwhile, said he and his family were grateful for prosecutors' decision.

"We have maintained from the beginning of this case that our client is innocent," they said in a statement.